It has been a concerning and controversial year for fashion’s sustainability agenda.
Instances of climate-focused innovation from brands, like Allbirds’ launch of a net-zero carbon shoe, were overpowered by an avalanche of questions about the industry’s credibility on both environmental and social fronts.
Companies once seen as leaders in minimising fashion’s environmental footprint, such as Asket and E.L.V. Denim retreated from overt eco-friendly messaging, shifting to a product-first positioning amid “sustainability fatigue.” Meanwhile reports of labour exploitation in the luxury and fast-fashion sectors — from Loro Piana’s links to Italian sweatshops to revelations that “ethical cotton” was being picked by children — undermined public trust that any part of fashion was free of worker abuses. The meaning of sustainability itself came into question as fast-fashion company Princess Polly achieved B Corp certification.
Political headwinds amplified these challenges. Shifts in US policy under president Donald Trump threatened funding for human-rights work in garment factories, while the EU moved to water down its own sustainability rules.
Amid all the drama, there were persistent reminders that the industry can’t ignore broader environmental risks, from intensifying climate impacts on production hubs to the mounting need for risk adaptation across global operations.
Looking ahead, the central question is not whether sustainability matters — if anything this year has shown precisely why it does more than ever — but rather, if fashion can truly deliver on it.
Top Stories
1. Can Brands Still Make the Case for Sustainable Fashion? In a climate where consumers are wary of greenwashing and a backlash against “woke capitalism” takes shape, brands peddling sustainability messaging have to treat the topic with a degree of irreverence and put the product first.
2. Sustainability Takes a Back Seat, Even at Sustainable Fashion Brands. In a challenging market, a generation of brands that helped pioneer ‘sustainable fashion’ are shifting their sales pitch, letting design, not values, do the talking.
3. If You Can’t Trust Loro Piana, Who Can You Trust? This week, court documents linking the top-end brand to Chinese sweatshops outside Milan called the entire luxury sector’s credibility into question.
4. ‘Ethical’ Cotton Is Being Picked by Child Labourers in India, Watchdog Finds. A new report has linked businesses supplying companies including Zara-owner Inditex, H&M Group, Gap Inc. and Amazon to incidents of forced labour and debt bondage on Indian cotton farms.
5. The Brewing Controversy Over the Cotton in Your T-Shirt. Zara owner Inditex, the world’s largest fast fashion company, is ditching the industry’s biggest sustainable cotton scheme amid a deforestation scandal and a wider push to prioritise organic fibres.
6. Trump’s Threat to Human Rights in Fashion’s Factories. Dramatic cuts to US foreign development spending are kneecapping the fragile network of civil society organisations and nonprofits that defend workers in the industry’s global supply chains.
7. Why Can’t Fashion Eliminate Labour Exploitation From Its Supply Chains? Brands like Patagonia, Nike and Lululemon have been working for years to address the exploitation of migrant workers at key fabric suppliers in Taiwan. Despite some progress, the issue has persisted.
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